First Infiltration, First Horror

A sharp crack of gunfire shattered the pre-dawn stillness, followed by the groan of straining metal. At the north gate of the Chronos depot, Anna’s rebels unleashed their diversion. Spotlights pivoted and sirens blared, pulling security forces away from the southern perimeter. From the shadows behind a row of rusted containers, Elias and Sofia crouched low, hearts pounding in unison.

Only a few meters in front of them, Lucy stood alone under a blinding cone of light, both arms raised in surrender. Her bulletproof vest hung awkwardly from her slender teenage frame, and the familiar plush turtle pressed tight against her ribs betrayed the ten-year-old within. The tension in the air was electric—Elias could almost feel Lucy’s pulse even at a distance.

He fought the urge to rush forward, his protective instincts screaming. But they had agreed: Lucy would pose as an escaped test subject, disoriented and terrified, to distract the guards. Meanwhile, he and Sofia would slip inside, find the Bêta Stabilizer—which Anna’s intel had promised in full—and vanish before Chronos reinforcements arrived.

“Please,” Lucy called out, voice quivering as she stepped closer to the gate. “Don’t shoot!”

A metallic screech signaled the southern gate sliding ajar. Two Chronos guards hurried to intercept Lucy—shadows behind the floodlights. They wore heavy vests and helmets, rifles at the ready. One guard shouted:

“Identify yourself!”

Lucy swallowed, glancing sideways into the darkness, where she knew her father crouched unseen.
“I… I escaped… from inside,” she stammered, hoping her trembling voice would sound genuine.
“Something’s happening… in the labs, I—”

Before she could finish, more gunfire echoed from the depot’s northern side. The guards exchanged wary glances. One barked into his radio:

“South gate compromised—possible breach! We have a stray subject here—send medical or containment!”

From behind a shipping crate, Elias watched Lucy’s performance with a heart torn between pride and dread. She’s pulling it off… but for how long?

Sofia tapped Elias’s shoulder.
“Look,” she whispered, pointing to the fence line. Guards in the watchtowers were pivoting north, where Anna’s team had detonated small charges. The strobing lights that once swept the southern perimeter were flickering in confusion.
“Now’s our window.”

Keeping low, they skirted around the south fence where a wedge had been cut in the chain links—a quiet sabotage carried out by Anna’s scouts. The heavy whirr of a passing drone overhead made Elias freeze. He pressed his back to a container wall, scanning for movement. Sofia clutched a handheld sensor jammer, tweaking dials to mask their readings from Chronos’s automated systems.

“We have seconds,” Sofia mouthed. “Let’s move.”

They slipped through the gap, adrenaline pounding in their veins. Beyond the gates, the depot sprawled in a labyrinth of cargo bays and corrugated hangars. The swirl of alarm klaxons, radio chatter, and muffled explosions was disorienting, but they kept to the darkest corners, guided by the rough blueprint Anna had shown them hours earlier.

Elias bit his lip as he thought of Lucy. She was somewhere back there, feigning confusion to keep the guards busy.
Please stay safe…

At the gate, Lucy’s ruse was working—at first. Two guards kept their rifles trained on her, clearly suspicious. She forced tears into her eyes, letting her voice shake.

“I’m not supposed to be here… They were—experimenting—on me.” She took a trembling step forward. “I ran away when the alarms went off. Please—don’t send me back.”

But these guards were no amateurs. One advanced with a zip tie, while the other barked into his headset. The faint replies Lucy overheard made her skin crawl:

“Containment team inbound.”

Another volley of explosions thundered from the north side, and the echo of gunfire skittered across the concrete. The guards stiffened at the sudden bursts of chaos on their comm lines. Lucy could practically see their decision forming: Lock this subject down, then reinforce the main fight.

“On your knees!” one commanded.
“Hands behind your head. Now!”

Lucy’s heart slammed against her ribs. She’d imagined this moment differently—maybe they’d rush to help her, leaving the gate wide open. Instead, their methodical approach pinned her in place. Stay calm… She sank to her knees, hugging her turtle to her chest. In the corner of her vision, she glimpsed the opening in the fence. Dad and Sofia must’ve gone through already. Don’t panic. Don’t blow this.

In her earpiece—unseen by the guards—Anna’s voice crackled:

“Lucy, hold on. We’re pinned down. You’re on your own for now—”

A sharp pop of static cut the connection. Lucy’s stomach twisted.

Meanwhile, Elias and Sofia crept along a narrow service corridor lined with faded hazard stripes. Harsh fluorescent tubes flickered overhead. The compound’s interior was more heavily guarded than they’d hoped; the entire building buzzed with tension. Shouts of “Breach!” and “Take positions!” reverberated from unseen passages.

Sofia glanced at a direction sign labeled Storage Level 1—Tech Wing Above.
“We need to get upstairs,” she hissed. “The Bêta Stabilizer is on the second floor, behind a locked room. Let’s find the stairs.”

They slipped through an open doorway, nearly tripping over a battered metal crate. The corridor ahead veered into a large loading bay scattered with half-unpacked shipments, crates bearing the Chronos emblem. A single guard patrolled among them, rifle at his side, oblivious to their presence—until Sofia’s shoe brushed against a stray shell casing.

Clink.

The guard spun.
“Who’s there?” His rifle snapped to position.

Elias acted on instinct, lunging forward and knocking the guard’s weapon aside. They crashed together in a tangle of limbs, the guard cursing. He was well-trained, swinging the butt of his rifle at Elias’s head. Elias grunted in pain, but twisted the guard’s arm, forcing him to drop the weapon.
Fight quickly— Elias told himself. We don’t have time for a protracted brawl.

Sofia, trembling, fumbled for a small stun device in her pocket. She pressed it against the guard’s side. Zzzztt—the jolt dropped him unconscious.

Panting, Elias stared at the stunned guard.
“We can’t keep doing that,” he muttered. “We’ll have the whole base on our heels.”

Sofia nodded, eyes haunted.
“Let’s hurry.”

They dragged the guard behind a stack of crates, then raced to a flight of metal stairs leading to the second floor. Alarm sirens blared overhead. Elias’s thoughts flicked to Lucy—still out there, alone in the yard, or perhaps captured.

At the gate, Lucy’s captors had decided to move her inside for questioning. They marched her through a side entrance, ignoring the swirling chaos from the north side. Once inside the compound, they passed along an elongated corridor that smelled of disinfectant and metal. Lucy’s pulse quickened as she glimpsed an enormous observation window overlooking a row of steel-walled labs.

She couldn’t help but steal a look—and nearly staggered in shock. Through the window, she saw a line of specimens in transparent pods, each occupant in varying stages of abnormal growth or slowed-time stasis. Some looked far older than their chronological age, skin sagging unnaturally; others were caught mid-breath, frozen in partial stasis. Lucy’s stomach rolled. This is what they would do to me if they caught me… or worse.

A single tear escaped her eye, and one of the guards noticed her gaze. He snorted grimly:

“Had enough of a peek? That’s what happens when you run from Chronos.”

The pair shoved her onward, deeper into the facility. Fear hammered in Lucy’s chest. She had to stall—give Dad and Sofia more time. If she let them lock her in a cell, all hope was lost.

On the second floor, Elias and Sofia found a corridor stenciled TECH WING—SECURE LAB. Their hearts soared—this had to be where the Bêta Stabilizer was stored. But the entire hallway was locked behind a sliding security door with a biometric panel glowing a menacing red.

Sofia knelt, pulling a compact hacking device from her pouch.
“Cover me.”

Elias kept watch while she worked. The device beeped rapidly, feeding lines of code into the lock’s system. Tension gnawed at them both. Gunshots and explosions were intensifying below—Anna’s diversion was still raging.

“Almost…” Sofia whispered, sweat beading on her temple. “I just need a—there!”

The panel turned green, and the security door hissed open. They slipped inside. Immediately, they were confronted with a glass-walled lab filled with prototype machines, half-labeled canisters, and a row of sealed lockers. At the far end, a stenciled sign read: BÊTA STABILIZER STORAGE.

“Yes,” Sofia breathed, crossing the room quickly. She entered another code, and the locker clicked. Inside, a metal case pulsed faintly with energy lines—but something about it looked incomplete.

Elias exhaled in relief, ignoring the first trace of doubt.
“We found it…”

But before they could celebrate, a shrill alarm erupted overhead. Red lights began flashing. A voice crackled through the compound’s intercom:

“Intruders confirmed on Level 2. All security teams converge. Colonel Marston is en route.”

Elias felt dread coil in his gut. Marston. He’d heard enough from Anna to know the Colonel’s reputation: cunning, brutal, and loyal to Ivanov. If Marston was coming, they were out of time.

On the ground floor, Lucy’s two guards were hurrying her along a corridor when a group of Chronos soldiers jogged past them—clearly responding to the alarm upstairs. One soldier paused, saluted sharply to a tall, severe man in a tactical uniform stepping through a side entrance. Lucy’s blood ran cold at the name whispered among the men:

Marston.

The Colonel fixed Lucy with a measuring gaze. His eyes were ice-cold, yet brimming with calculated interest.
“What have we here?” he asked, voice low yet commanding.

One of the guards answered:

“A stray subject, sir. Claims she escaped from the labs. Orders said to contain her—”

Marston raised a hand for silence, stepping closer. Lucy’s breath caught. His presence was suffocating, exuding calm authority that demanded obedience.

“Let me see her face,” he ordered.

The guard forced Lucy to look up, and she stared into Marston’s penetrating eyes. For a brief moment, Lucy’s fear nearly overwhelmed her. This man wouldn’t hesitate to lock her into one of those pods, or worse.

“Accelerated aging,” he noted with a clinical detachment, scanning her teenage appearance. “This might be interesting. Secure her in Lab 3. I’ll deal with her myself once we clear out the intruders upstairs.”

Lucy’s heart hammered. She had to act, or she’d never see Elias again. Keep stalling. As the guards tightened their grip, Lucy let out a sudden cry of pain, collapsing to her knees. She gasped and clutched her side, dropping the plush turtle.

“Ah—my chest, it hurts—!” she whimpered, feigning an episode of the irregular pains that sometimes plagued her.

Marston regarded her with narrowed eyes. One guard knelt, uncertain:

“Sir, do we get a med tech?”

Marston frowned, evaluating Lucy’s pained grimace.
“If she’s no use to us dead, yes. Quickly—”

But Lucy had just enough distraction to wrench free from the guard’s hold. Her sudden move caught them off balance, and she bolted down the corridor, heart slamming against her ribs. Alarms still blared, echoing in the enclosed halls. She heard Marston’s furious shout behind her:

“Stop her! Cut her off!”

Go… keep going… Lucy forced her legs to move, ignoring the terrified child in her mind screaming for her father.

Up on the second floor, Elias and Sofia clutched the Bêta Stabilizer—or what they thought was a Bêta Stabilizer. Even at a glance, Sofia had noticed missing modules. Still, they dashed back into the corridor, searching for an escape route. The main stairwell was swarming with Chronos reinforcements. Any second now, they’d be cornered.

“Elias!” Sofia whispered urgently, pointing at a side hall.
“We can try the other stairwell—”

She cut off mid-sentence when Lucy careened around the corner from the opposite end, hair disheveled and face streaked with tears. She nearly collided with them, panting:

“Dad!”

“Lucy!” Elias gasped in relief, grabbing her shoulders. “How did you—”

“They found me,” Lucy answered, voice shaking. “Marston’s here—he wants to lock me in a lab. We have to go.”

The moment reunited father and daughter, but Colonel Marston’s voice rang out from behind Lucy:

“They’re here! Secure the corridor!”

A volley of gunfire tore past them, spanging off metal walls. Sofia yelped, ducking behind a crate, the half-assembled Stabilizer clutched protectively. Elias pulled Lucy down with him, shielding her with his body.

One of the Chronos soldiers advanced, barking orders. Another shot whizzed overhead. Lucy shut her eyes, trembling. This is it…

But a sudden explosion rocked the floor beneath them—Anna’s doing, perhaps. Smoke and sparks erupted from somewhere below, plunging half the corridor into flickering darkness. Elias seized the advantage:

“Run! Down that side stair—go!”

Dodging the half-collapsed ceiling panels, they sprinted for the side stairs. The entire depot shook with the reverberations of multiple blasts. Chronos soldiers were scattered, some trying to put out small fires, others calling for reinforcements. Over the cacophony, Lucy heard Marston’s voice again:

“Do not let them escape! Move!”

Elias practically hauled Lucy down the steps two at a time. Sofia clutched the incomplete device, knuckles white. Every corridor they passed was a swirl of sirens and flickering emergency lights. Bodies of unconscious or wounded guards littered the floors—some rebels must have fought their way in here, too. The stench of scorched metal filled the air.

At last, they emerged into a loading dock on the ground level—a wide bay door stood half-open. Slivers of pale dawn light peeked through. Outside, the sporadic rattle of gunfire indicated Anna’s rebels were still locked in combat. Elias’s pulse hammered. Freedom is right there…

“Go!” he shouted, shoving Lucy ahead as more Chronos troops appeared behind them.

Lucy hesitated only a fraction of a second, scanning the chaos. She spotted an old armored truck with the rebel insignia near the dock’s ramp. The driver’s door was flung open, engine rumbling, as if someone had started it in a hurry. Anna or one of her rebels might already be inside.

“There!” Lucy cried, pointing.

They dashed across the open bay. Bullets pinged off the concrete. Elias bit back a curse as a searing pain sliced across his upper arm—a grazing shot. He staggered but kept moving, ignoring Sofia’s alarmed cry.

They scrambled onto the truck’s bed. A rebel clad in black fatigues hurried them in, slamming the rear gate just as a Chronos soldier fired a final burst of rounds.

“Hang on!” the rebel yelled, stamping the gas pedal.

The truck lurched, tires squealing. Elias braced Lucy against the vehicle’s rattling side. She clung to him, breath ragged, tears streaming silently. The swirling devastation of the depot yard fell behind, receding into a haze of smoke and sirens.

They roared down a service road, engine howling like a wounded animal. Once they were clear of immediate pursuit, the driver skidded to a halt behind a row of abandoned buildings, gravel spraying in all directions. Anna appeared from the passenger seat, face streaked with soot, a cut above her brow. Two other rebels jumped down from the cab to check the perimeter.

Inside the truck bed, Sofia exhaled shakily, popping open the metal case she and Elias had risked their lives for. Her face fell at the tangled wires and empty slots.
“We got it… but it’s not whole,” she murmured. “It’s only a fragment of the Bêta Stabilizer—missing critical modules.”

Lucy slumped, hugging her turtle. A sob wrenched from her throat as the truth sank in.
“We expected the real thing… but it’s just… broken parts?”

Anna pounded the side of the truck in frustration.
“My intel said it was fully assembled. Damn it!” She shot a glance at Lucy, guilt flickering in her eyes.

Elias winced, pressing a hand to his wounded arm. Blood seeped through his fingers. He looked at Lucy, heart breaking at the haunted look in her eyes. She’s seen too much. He tried to muster comfort, pulling her into a trembling embrace.

“Shh… it’s over,” he whispered. “We made it out alive. That’s what matters, Lucy.”

She swallowed hard, tears still slipping down her cheeks.
“Dad… all those test subjects in pods… that could have been me.” Her voice caught. “And that… Colonel Marston… I can still feel him watching.”

Anna’s expression darkened at the mention of Marston.
“He’ll come after us with everything he has. We blew our cover and killed some of his men tonight.” Her gaze flicked to the incomplete stabilizer, then to Lucy. “We bought ourselves time, but we accomplished far less than we hoped.”

A grim silence settled, broken only by the occasional hiss of steam from the overheated engine. Sofia finally managed a weary sigh, rummaging in a med kit to bandage Elias’s arm. Lucy stared at the floor of the truck, clutching the plush turtle so hard her knuckles turned white.

“We did what we had to,” Elias said quietly, though the words felt hollow. He remembered the look of terror on that Chronos guard’s face when they wrestled him down, the screams echoing in the corridor, the wounded workers. First infiltration, first horror, indeed.

Lucy closed her eyes, the swirl of nightmarish images dancing behind her eyelids: the pods, the suspended victims, the cold gaze of Colonel Marston. Part of her realized there was no going back to the naive child she’d been. She would never fully escape these memories.

A tear slipped onto the plush turtle’s worn shell. As the truck’s engine rumbled back to life, Lucy felt the weight of her father’s arm around her shoulders—warm, protective, yet powerless to erase the horrors they had witnessed.
We survived, she told herself, but the cost was etched deep inside.

“We’ll try again,” Anna said quietly, though no one seemed reassured. “We’ll piece together the rest of that stabilizer… or find another way. I swear it.”

Lucy could only nod, fear tightening her throat. She dreaded the moment they’d have to face Chronos again. But she dreaded her own unchecked aging even more.

The truck jolted forward, disappearing into the city’s underbelly, sirens wailing in the distance. As dawn approached, they carried with them the shattered fragments of hope—and the chilling realization that Chronos’s cruelty ran deeper than they’d ever imagined.

Lucy leaned her head on Elias’s shoulder, silent tears still falling. This battle had been won, barely—but the war with Chronos had only just begun.